So titled because "trusts" once were used to destroy business competition, antitrust law seeks to preserve and further useful competition in United States interstate and foreign commerce. Principally through three federal statutes, the Sherman Act of 1890 and the Clayton Act and Section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (both enacted in 1914), the federal courts and certain administrative agencies deal with such activities as boycotts, tying, price-fixing, "predatory pricing," monopolization, price discrimination, restrictive use by their owners of patents and other intellectual property rights, and other illegal anticompetitive practices. The course will make some comparisons with similar laws in other countries, especially those of the EEC. No prior knowledge of economics is needed.
This is an elective course. Most, though not all, electives are offered each year. Students may expect to have at least one opportunity to subscribe to all electives at some time in their three years in the college.